Paraprofessional / Support Staff

An article by Elise Levy Kennedy, "Miami-Dade Public Library System's Intern/Trainee Program," in the ALA/APA Library Worklife newsletter volume 1, number 9 describes a multi-tiered work experience program for paraprofessionals working towards a graduate library education degree. At Johns Hopkins University, the Milton S. Eisenhower Library Program Supporting M.L.S./Ph.D. in Library and Information Science assists library staff preparing for library positions requiring advanced degrees in library and information science. See Stevens, Jen and Rosemary Streatfeild. Recruitment and Retention, SPEC Kit 276. Washington, D.C.: Association of Research Libraries, September 2003, pp. 113-114. The University of California, Irvine offers a variety of support for library staff interested in becoming librarians.

Student Assistants / Undergraduate Students

Cornell College, Coe Library in Mt. Vernon, Iowa offers internships and independent studies for undergraduate students to explore careers in librarianship. Hayden, Carla. "Librarianship: A Career As Diverse As You Are." The Black Collegian (Fall 2003): 40-41. Morton, Andrew, et al. "Active Recruitment Within Academic Libraries." Virginia Libraries 49, no. 4 (October-December 2003): 10-12. Describes an informal career fair at the University of Richmond. The University of Delaware Library Assembly of Professional Staff Library Student Assistant Scholarship offers an annual $500 award to a current or former University of Delaware Library student assistant.

Young Adults / High School Students

The Bureau of Labor Statistics offers occupational information edited for a younger audience on the colorful Exploring Career Information website. The Librarian profile is easily found by selecting reading as an interest. The Friends of Libraries U.S.A. (FOLUSA) provides a one-page fact sheet on "How to Organize a Junior Friends of the Library Group." Starting a Junior Friends groups is a great way to show teens that librarianship is a great profession. "Me? A Librarian?!! (1998) Produced by the Ohio Library Council, this upbeat, 10-minute video is designed to interest middle through high school students in library careers. It features two teen-agers with high-tempo background music. The video dispels common myths about librarians and their work. Librarians talk about their careers, where they work, and the excitement of being on the forefront of today's information society. The video can be used for career days, at library open house, or circulated in the library's AV collection. Accompanied by an Instructor's Guide, 25 student handouts. Queens Borough Public Library Page Fellows program is a fifteen-week course that encourages library pages to explore librarianship as a possible career choice. This program is also discussed in Buron, Nick. "Mentoring New York City's Future Librarians." VOYA: Voice of Youth Advocates 5, no. 24 (December 2001): 342-344.

Children

Liebman, Dan.I Want to be a Librarian. A Firefly Book, 2003. A 20-page easy-to-read book of photographs illustrating and describing the job of a librarian.

Career Changers

The Council on Library and Information Resources Post-Doctoral Fellowship in Scholarly Information Resources program awards ten to fifteen fellowships, of one to two years in length, to individuals who have earned their Ph.D.s in disciplines in the humanities within the past three years. Gilman, Todd. "Becoming a Librarian." Chronicle of Higher Education (October 17, 2003). Describes the author's transition from adjunct professor to academic librarian. "A Model for Recruitment." 24, no. 1 CSLA Journal (Fall 2000): 23-24. Describes a successful recruitment program by the California School Library Association, Committee for Library Information and Promotion, to recruit teachers as school librarians.

Members of Underrepresented Groups

The American Library Association sponsors Spectrum Scholarships for members of underrepresented racial/ethnic groups pursuing graduate library education degrees. The Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association Scholarship provides financial assistance to a student of Asian or Pacific background who is enrolled, or has been accepted into a master's or doctoral degree program in library and/or information science at a library school accredited by the American Library Association. The Association of Specialized and Cooperative Library Agencies sponsors the Century Scholarship to recruit people with disabilities to the library profession. The Chesapeake Information and Research Library Alliance provides academic library work experience to students working on graduate library education degrees in the CIRLA Fellows Program. Grob, Julie. "RBMS, Special Collections, and the Challenge of Diversity: The Road to the Diversity Action Plan." RBM: A Journal of Rare Books, Manuscripts, and Cultural Heritage 4 no. 2 (Fall 2003): 74-108. Hayden, Carla. "Librarianship: A Career As Diverse As You Are." The Black Collegian (Fall 2003): 40-41. The University of Arizona School of Information Resources and Library Science Knowledge River program attracts students interested in addressing library and information issues from the needs and perspectives of Hispanics and Native Americans. The University of California Los Angeles, Department of Information Studies, Diversity Recruitment and Mentoring Committee webpage lists a variety of recruitment initiatives aimed at increasing the diversity of the student population. University of Rhode Island/Providence Public Library Prism Associates Program provides members of ethnic minority groups with financial support and work experience while they pursue the Master of Library and Information Studies degree at the University of Rhode Island.

Individuals with Special Skills

The Association of College and Research Libraries, Western European Studies Section, Recruitment to the Profession Committee webpage aims to recruit new librarians with foreign language skills.

ALA Recruitment Clearinghouse Types of Recruitment Initiatives Career Specializations Target Populations This page is maintained by the ALA Recruitment Assembly in liaison with the ALA Office for Human Resource Development and Recruitment. Please send recommendations for additions or changes to jbrewer at udel.edu. Last update January 5, 2005.